canada offered $22 to halt seal cull

Sydney Morning Herald




Canada offered $22m to halt seal cull
April 7, 2006

OTTAWA: An American businesswoman has offered Canada $US16 million ($22 million) to immediately end a controversial seal hunt, in an open letter to the Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, but Canada is not biting.

"Your government has repeatedly stated that the $US16 million realised from the slaughter of Canadian baby seals is vital to the fishing communities of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and Newfoundland," Cathy Kangas said in her letter on Wednesday.

"If you stop this year's hunt immediately, we will provide you with this $US16 million to be distributed at your discretion."

But Steven Outhouse, a spokesman for the Fisheries Minister, Loyola Hearn, said: "The short answer is 'No'. We're not interested in the offer and would prefer she put the money in another worthwhile cause."

Despite protests by countless animal rights groups and celebrities including Canadian-born actress Pamela Anderson, France's Brigitte Bardot and former Beatle Paul McCartney, Ottawa authorised the cull of 325,000 seals this year. About 20,000 have been killed so far.

Ms Kangas, chief executive and founder of cosmetics firm Prai Beauty, is a long-time animal activist with ties to the International Fund for Animal Welfare and the US Humane Society, which has lobbied vigorously against the hunt. She also proposed buying back hunting licences and nurturing an eco-tourism program to replace the annual seal cull.

"This could be a whole new source of revenue for the region and fishermen could serve as park rangers showing the seals and protecting them," she said. The money would be raised from animal protection groups worldwide including the US Humane Society, which has more than 9 million members, Ms Kangas said.

Mr Outhouse said the hunt was legal and regulated and there was "no resource crunch" so Ms Kangas's offer did "not make sense from a conservation point of view. It's just another example of people with money trying to tell other people how to live their lives and most people don't respond positively to that."

Agence France-Presse